A US soldier who played a role in the January capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is now in custody after allegedly cashing in over $400,000 on wagers about the politician’s removal from office, federal authorities announced on Thursday.
Prosecutors say beginning in early December the soldier, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, was involved in planning for the military operation to capture and depose Maduro.
Between early December and early January, Van Dyke allegedly placed 13 bets on Polymarket, a popular prediction market, related to American forces invading Venezuela and taking its head of state.
Van Dyke has been charged with commodities and wire fraud in addition to unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ). He is facing up to 60 years in prison.
Good thing they listed his middle name to differentiate him from all the other Gannon Van Dykes.
Rules for thee but not for me - The Epstein Class
Does Polymarket even serve a purpose beyond decision makers robbing the public? The whole thing just screams “scam” to me. Everything you’re betting on is controlled by another party, often in ways where that other party can influence the odds in one side’s favor. Even casinos aren’t that terrible by comparison because at least they can calculate and publish the odds of winning.
It’s a grift. Everything is about extortion these days.
So there is interesting research into prediction markets, both theoretical and experimental.
But I think it’s apparent that nearly everything you can imagine going wrong with it is going wrong with Polymarket and Kalshi, and much of that is indeed intentional on the part of the people running them. Add in the current US gambling epidemic (also intentional by many of the same people) and it’s a mess.
I think saying there’s no purpose undersells the evil nature of the Epstein class who are financing the grift. Almost no successful scam is just a scam. Hiding behind a sliver of legitimacy is how they get so big.
